Invader Mel's Return
by Invader Mel
Summary: Invader Mel returns, with some urgent news. When she faints and needs to get to an Irken hospital, Zim and Dib must try to cope with each other. Ranging from a battle to the death to a sentimental goodbye, the journey of Zim, Mel, and Dib on a quest conti
1. The Nightmare Continues

Note: I think this one is A LOT better than the first. I tend to be that way.  
  
  
  
Chapter One: The Nightmare Continues  
  
It was a drab, dreary day on Irk; turmoil had begun, as the public had been informed of an upcoming danger. Along with a new shipment of SIR units had come samples of vegetation from another planet, which a stray seed had rooted in the soil. Now it was overtaking everything else. All of the crops edible to the Irkens had been destroyed, and most factories depended on fuel derived from by-products of these plants. Once artificial products had been consumed, they depended solely on imported goods, causing their formerly healthy economy to drop drastically. People panicked, and as prices and taxes on everything raised, they bought more and more.  
  
They had literally bitten off more than they could chew, and as foods wasted and people grew poorer, taxes could not be paid, and hardly any food imported was consumed. Government funds ran low, and the Irken Empire's power was beginning to diminish. Tallest Miyuki and anyone with close ties to him were the only people that were in a good state of living, along with the other high officials.  
  
Second Tallest Red and Purple were treated above many people, but only Miyuki gained the privilege to tour the galaxy in hopes of finding assistance. While doing this, he received gifts, and no shortage of as many snacks as he wished. They resented him highly, and were about to discuss their current position in Miyuki's room, which he had lent to them while he was away on business. But for the moment, they were outside of the hotel building, busy complaining.  
  
It was at that moment that a certain Invader Mel, presumed to be dead, snuck inside Miyuki's room in hopes of glimpsing him and telling of her exploits in getting there. What she didn't know was that she was about to uncover something far more sinister. Dashing in the room, she sighed in frustration. Miyuki wasn't there, and apparently hadn't been for some time. The walls were covered up with posters of Second Tallest Red and Purple, and only two people were obsessed with those two so far as to have posters of them plastering the walls - Red and Purple themselves. When she heard them approaching loudly, she rushed into the broom closet and locked the door. Why they'd ever installed locks in that broom closet she hadn't the foggiest, but whatever the reason was, she took advantage of it.  
  
The sound of the door leading to the hotel room being slammed open confirmed to her that they had entered.  
  
"So, you're saying, that if we get rid of Miyuki, we'll get all the cushy treatment?" Purple asked. He usually was a bit slower to catch onto things.  
  
"Yes. All we have to do is to exchange his evening soda with some water. There's a sample substance in the laboratory we can sneak out. When ingested, it'll kill him for sure!" Mel gasped.  
  
"Hey! What was that?"  
  
"It came from the closet." She jumped out of the closet and got in between the two.  
  
"No! You'll never kill Tallest Miyuki!"  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Invader Mel. Miyuki's wife."  
  
"Miyuki's wife? I thought she died," Purple mused.  
  
"Well, I'm alive, and I'm going to the authorities with this!" Her voice hissed as it changed to a higher register.  
  
"Then I guess we're going to have to do something about you." Red reached for a laser at his side, but as he drew it out and fired, Mel had gotten to another part of the room. "Get your gun out!" he instructed his accomplice. They fired continually, back to back, as they attempted to harm her.  
  
"You're forgetting that Miyuki taught me everything I know. I could outdo you any day of the year!" She jumped to the window's edge, the wind whipping at her antennae and causing her to sway to and fro. Mel leapt out, and the Second Tallest Red and Purple watched her plummet.  
  
"She's insane! I need some food."  
  
"Me too. And soon we won't be rationed to only ten bags of chips a day." They turned away from the window, and didn't see Mel fall into her Voot Cruiser. She took off, zooming past people in the streets, and veered off to the right as she accelerated upward until she left Irk's gravitational pull. Swerving around and back towards her home planet, she visited the residency of an old friend - Zal.  
  
She landed in the street in front of her house, and went to her door. Zal opened it, and her eyes brightened upon seeing Mel. "I'm so glad to see you! I thought you were dead!"  
  
"No, Zal, I'm not. And though I know you're only a small girl, I need you to come with me on an important mission."  
  
"I can handle it."  
  
"Okay. I trust you. Let's go."  
  
"Wait, can't I pack?"  
  
"No time to pack. Miyuki's in danger."  
  
"You mean Tallest Miyuki?"  
  
"Yes. That I do. Now, get in." Zal hopped into the Voot, and they shot off into the sky.  
  
"AKA!" Mel screeched, as she saw her SIR unit Aka poking its head out from under the various apparatus in the contraption. "Aka, set coordinates for planet Earth." 


	2. Alien Universe

Chapter Two: Alien Universe  
  
It was an uneventful journey for Mel, but she knew that while Tallest Miyuki was away, he had a couple assassins after him, and she was the only one that knew. As her ship approached the planet known as Earth, she began to speculate on how to make her entrance.  
  
"Let's see...last time I crash-landed, a sort of science fiction/mystery style...this time I'm going more for horror.... Zim was pretty easily scared back in the old days, but I think I'm going to frighten Dib. His expressions are always more ridiculous!"  
  
"Just how exactly do you plan your big entrance this time, Mel?"  
  
"Oh, I'm not exactly sure. I think maybe I'll land on Dib's roof. That ought to shake him up a bit."  
  
"Then it is set." The Irken landed it with incredible ease and precision onto the earthling's home, and within the minute he could be seen peering out the window. Mel hopped out and onto the roof, then assisted Zal in getting out.  
  
"Zal, meet my good friend Dib. Dib, meet my good friend Zal." She bent over down to the window, and beckoned Zal. "Get out of the way, Dib, I'm coming in!" Mel did a flip and landed inside the window. Sitting on the sill and kicking her legs back and forth, she started to whistle a tune.  
  
"Wait - isn't that the Oscar Buyer Weiner song?"  
  
"What can I say? It's the only Earth song I know. But the news I have to deliver is much more important than being an Oscar Buyer Weiner. Tallest Miyuki is in danger."  
  
"Invader Mel, sit down. I don't want to tell you this. But I have to, don't I?"  
  
"I don't know the answer to that question, for I don't know what it is you feel must be said to me."  
  
"Tallest Miyuki came to visit here, but...Zim was in his Voot Cruiser, and it...crashed. I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say..."  
  
"Dib, get out of here."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Dib, take everything valuable to you and go. You must leave, or you'll end up coming with me to Irk. You'll die there. Zim will too."  
  
"Invader Mel, I don't understand."  
  
"I come from a parallel universe where you and Zim came with me to Irk. You died there. I was able to come into a reality where Tallest Miyuki didn't die, but now that I've come here to change things for me, they're turning the same. Don't you see?! With Tallest Miyuki gone, it will be yours and Zim's turns soon."  
  
"What do I do?"  
  
"I wish I knew the answer to that, Dib. I've been at your grave, seen you suffocate right before my eyes and not being able to do anything about it, and felt the burning rain eat through my skin until I'm just a pile of bones and nothing more. I've felt the last few remnants of life in Zim's hands as he looked longingly into the sunset, hoping for another day to pass with him still in existence. I've seen hundreds die for no reason but a slight expansion on the empire...so much death...so much pointless death...and I've always been helpless, so very helpless and alone."  
  
"Do you want to call Zim?"  
  
"Sure. But not now. For your own good. Tell me, does Zim have a secret crush on me? That would lead to his death. If he does, I need you to talk him out of it. I need to be able to count on you. This could determine whether the two of you live or die. Be absolutely honest."  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"Good. Zal, could you bring me my portable transmitter? I need to talk to Zim." Zal jumped in through the window and handed her a small device that looked similar to a cell phone. Mel snatched it and dialed a code.  
  
"Hello? Oh, hi, Invader Mel."  
  
"Greetings, Zim. I have some important business to discuss with you."  
  
"As in...."  
  
"As in Mission Hidden Realm."  
  
"I'll be right there. Wait, where are you?"  
  
"Dib's house."  
  
"I'll see you Mel. Goodbye." The screen image died away, and Zim arrived shortly, by means of Voot Cruiser. He also jumped in through the window. The three - Zim, Zal, and Mel - began to talk in a hissing language, of which Dib could not understand. At first it seemed lighthearted enough, but then Zim and Mel began to yell at each other. She turned to Dib, and shouted something at him in the language.  
  
"Sorry, I mean, what do you think we should do?"  
  
"I don't even know what the problem is. Could you speak in English, please?"  
  
"Oh, yes. Pardon, I'm so embarrassed. We're in a bit of a predicament, I'm afraid. We're going to be caught in the middle of a space battle. But no! I can't let either of you die! I'd rather die myself."  
  
"Don't say that!" They screamed at her. "I'd die for you at any time," Zal stated faithfully.  
  
"You're very important to this universe," Dib put in.  
  
"I wouldn't think of you giving yourself up for me," Zim announced to them.  
  
"Oh, thank you, guys, you're the best. But I don't deserve such compliments. I am to die. That is my only purpose. You three all have lives, futures. Zal, an Irken officer, Dib, a paranormal investigator, Zim, an invader. We all have a purpose, and mine is to die so you three can fulfill your purposes."  
  
"No, that's not it..." Zim tried to persuade Mel, but she wouldn't budge. She fainted, and Zal caught her just in time before she reached the ground.  
  
"Oh no, not again...Zim, are we going to have to do this charade again?"  
  
"Maybe. But I think she has a condition. We have to get her to a hospital. We have to go to Irk."  
  
"But...she told us not to...no matter what."  
  
"Dib-monkey, if we don't do something, she'll probably die." Dib shuddered, and then helped pick her up.  
  
"Zal, unless you want to stay here on Earth for some reason, I suggest you get back into your Voot Cruiser."  
  
"I-it's not mine, Dib. It's Mel's."  
  
"Then get into Mel's. Zim, help me get her into yours." Zim ordered GIR to bring the Cruiser down to window level, where he helped carry Mel into. After they were in, he closed the glass top and they took off. The two enemies said nothing on the journey there. Most of the time they spent looking at her.  
  
"Well? What are you staring at, stinkbeast human?"  
  
"Nothing. It's just that, well, it feels like this has happened before."  
  
"Oh." They went back to staring out the glass on opposite sides, and when Zim glanced back at Dib, he saw the expression he had. A sort of...curiosity...amazement. "What on Irk are you so happy about?"  
  
"I've...I've never been in space before. Well, there was that one time when you were trying to squish the Earth with Mars, but -"  
  
"Oh, yes, I remember that. And I would've succeeded if it weren't for your stupid interfering." Dib chuckled to himself, in reminiscence of his victory. He then began to remove the glove off Mel's hand. "What are you doing, Dib-human?! You never remove an invader's glove!"  
  
"I just wanted to check her pulse." Zim eyed the human with suspicion as he lifted her hand and examined it.  
  
"Is that how you humans check pulses?"  
  
"No...it's just that...she's so...full of life. Unmoving, but so alive."  
  
"You humans are strange."  
  
"Maybe strange to you. But you're strange to me. Your whole planet, the concept of leaders being chosen by height...every little thing normal to you is strange."  
  
"It is a little odd, now that you mention it. I guess it's an alien universe. All kinds of repulsive little species like you out there." This intrigued Dib. He hadn't heard his enemy use the terminology 'alien' at anytime except when denying his true origin after accusations had been made. "I'm going to sleep. Don't mess around with anything, because without me, you'll never get her to a hospital in time. Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes." As Zim leaned back and snored, he closed his eyes too. After all, the thing was on autopilot and would alert them if there were any danger. Exhausted from the day's events, he laid back and fell asleep. It was amazing how easily this all came to him. He probably would have fallen asleep sooner, for it had been late at night when he'd been summoned to go and get Mel to safety. Just before his slumber, a thought crossed his mind once more - what was Mission Hidden Realm, and how did it put them in danger? Despite the relevancy to this, he nodded off all the same. 


	3. A Lesson in Trust

Chapter Three: A Lesson in Trust  
  
Morning. Or rather, the time Zim woke Dib up. "Dib, what in the name of Irk did you do to her?!"  
  
"What?" he asked drowsily.  
  
"Look at her!" Dib saw Mel with a horrible rash on her face, and gazed in horror. It looked something like a reaction to meat. His face met Zim's, whose expression was now enraged. "Her pulse is dangerously low, Dib- monkey! If we don't get her to the hospital soon, she'll die! With you tagging along she won't live to see another day! You must be eliminated, now!"  
  
Zim drew a long sword out of a sheath that had been concealed previously, and pointed it to Dib's head, right in between the eyes. "Sh- she said you'd die if I were to die," he stated. The Irken hesitantly put the weapon away.  
  
"All right, for now you get away. But I swear, get near her one more time, and I'll drive this down your throat! The Cruiser's on autopilot, and programmed to land in front of the hospital, and they are aware of our arrival. So, even if we're dead, she'll be saved."  
  
"I didn't do anything to her..."  
  
"Stop lying...that filthy acting innocent won't fool me."  
  
"I'm not pretending. I'd never harm her. Why would you say that? I'd never harm her. You know that."  
  
"You're the only other person here!"  
  
"How do I know you didn't hurt her when I was asleep?!"  
  
"I'd never hurt her!"  
  
"Neither would I. But what happened?"  
  
"I don't know." Dib extended his hand for Mel's, but before he could comprehend what was happening, Zim came down with the sword. A steady trickle of blood made its way down his arm as he screamed out in pain. "Stay away from her!"  
  
"I was just checking her pulse!"  
  
"I'll be doing that from now on! I can't trust you!"  
  
"I can't trust you either!"  
  
"Never...get...near...her...again. Do you understand?"  
  
"You can't ask me to do that!"  
  
"You're so pitiful! If you really cared about her, you'd do anything to keep her alive!"  
  
"Zim, I challenge you to a fight. To the death."  
  
"I accept. Wait, we can't fight here. It's too small, and Mel is here. Computer, make a detour to that planet over there." He pointed to a small one off to the right. "Earth-monkey, you'll get a laser as will I. There will be one hour of practice, and then the actual battle. No one wins or loses until someone dies. If you surrender, your life will not be spared. You'll be killed. No other rules. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, ZIM."  
  
"Good." They neared the planet, and when they landed, dawned gear to make sure they could breathe. They stepped outside the Cruiser, and Zim tossed Dib a laser. After receiving it, the human scrutinized it carefully. "You can try it out, if you think I've tampered with it."  
  
"Maybe I'll try it out on you."  
  
"No, that wouldn't be a good idea, because for the time being, I have a force field surrounding myself. You do too. Until the actual battle begins, it will be that way."  
  
"How do you work it?"  
  
"Just push this button and a laser comes out." He pushed it, and it looked a lot like a lightsaver.  
  
"Practice well, filthy human. You'll need it."  
  
"I don't need your 'advice,' alien!"  
  
"Practice begins now." A timer activated, and Zim tried some tricks he'd learned. Without much confidence, he too, prepared himself for the battle yet to come. Nothing in the universe could prepare either of the two nemeses for the events about to take place. 


	4. A Battle for Life...and Death

Chapter Four: A Battle For Life...and Death  
  
Zim put his laser down and propped up against a boulder. Though it was a small planet, the vast majority of it was desert. It looked a bit like Mars, but without quite as many rocks, and the sand wasn't nearly as red. Everything here seemed to have a dull, dowdy appearance. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the human attempting to defeat an imaginary Zim. The alien knew the stinkbeast human wasn't nearly as learned as he in the fine arts of fighting, but he had determination. Sometimes that was all that was needed to succeed. He brought his laser up, and sent it crashing down on a dead tree ahead of him. 'I mustn't fail,' he thought, 'Mel's life depends on me.'  
  
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Dib dropped his laser down and heard it clank against the dirt-dusty ground as a staggering pain hit his arm. That hit with the laser had been more effective than he'd thought. 'This is hopeless,' in silence he contemplated, 'I mean, here I am, a kid with a laser, and there he is, an alien with advanced technology and years of training. What have I got?' He glanced down at his watch that Mel had given him on her first visit for his birthday. As she had said, 'a seven-month late present MUST be good!' Thinking about her talking made him smile. Immediately his attention turned back to the fallen laser. Without another moment's delay, he picked it back up and swished it into the air. 'If I'm ever going to see her say anything again, I'm going to have to start practicing.'  
  
An hour passed. "Pitiful human! Do you dare to face me?!"  
  
"Yeah, I dare. Sure you can beat me?"  
  
"Of course! How dare you insult me?!"  
  
"With confidence."  
  
"Enough of this! Like I said, human, the rules are simple: Fight until you are dead. I set the Voot Cruiser's alarm for about an hour, so when the whistle sounds, we begin." They stood there, glaring at the other, bracing themselves for what was about to come. Their muscles tightened, as did their squints. The planet's sun was very hot indeed, and far too intense for them to bear for much longer. A whistle sounded, and for a moment, they just stood there. Zim was the first to attack, hurtling through the air, and Dib jumped out of the way.  
  
He brought his laser up once more, and swung it at the alien in a blind fury. Zim leapt up, and stabbed him in the shoulder. This sent him tumbling down, and Zim was in the process of rushing him with his laser. To his good fortune, he had fallen against a boulder. Just as he was about to be crushed, he jumped onto the boulder. Instead of him dying, Zim's head collided right into the rock.  
  
Taking advantage of his temporary wooziness, Dib sent his laser crashing down upon the alien's head. Activating his spider legs, Zim chased after the fleeing human, until finally he dashed out of the way. Using his laser, he severed one of the mechanical legs, throwing Zim off balance and forcing him to come down to ground level. From behind Dib, he threw a heavy rock onto the back of his trench coat, thus weighing him down. His laser fell out of reach.  
  
'I can't die,' Dib thought to himself, 'I can't let Mel down. I can't let her be in the same vehicle as that fiend! But what am I going to do? I'm going to die!' With all his force, he attempted to pull himself free of the rock. "Please don't kill me!"  
  
"We already laid the rules down. If you surrender, you die. Oh, and by the way, I know you made up that thing about me dying if you die. Now, pitiful human, meet your doom! Any last words?"  
  
"Yes. I want you to tell my family I love them. And don't forget Mel. I swear, if you harm her one little bit, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life!"  
  
"No need to worry about that." As he was about to strike him one final time, Dib looked to the right of him and cried out.  
  
"Look! Mel's coming!"  
  
"What on Irk are you talking about, Dib-worm?"  
  
"Mel! I'm over here! Come over here!" Zim shaded his eyes from the sun.  
  
"What are you talking about, there's no one over there!"  
  
"Yes there is! Look! Mel, come here! Come here!" He collapsed, and the alien checked to see if he was dead. Zim took an odd looking tool out of his backpack.  
  
"Computer, read internal temperature." Within a few seconds, the reply came back.  
  
"Internal temperature is 105 degrees Farenheit."  
  
"105 degrees? That's above the normal temperature for humans. I wonder if he died from heat...interesting." Without another word, he wandered off and back to the Voot, where he saw Mel. "I'm so sorry I had to do that. I know he's your friend, but I can't have your life at risk. I can't have that happen." Her hand began to twitch a little, and Zim looked hopefully at her. Slowly her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him.  
  
"W-where are we, Zim? This doesn't look like Dib's house at all."  
  
"I'm sorry. I had to eliminate him."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He made an attempt on your life when I was sleeping."  
  
"He'd never do that!"  
  
"But he did. You had a rash all over your face, like from meat, or water."  
  
"I was in the rain last week, Zim. It must be a delayed reaction."  
  
"Then he didn't...."  
  
"You killed him?! You killed him?! Zim, how could you?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I thought that he had...."  
  
"Wait...where are we?"  
  
"A small planet. We stopped here to fight so we could make sure you would be safe on the way home."  
  
"Home? You don't by any chance mean Irk, do you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Zim, you'll die! Don't!"  
  
"I have to get you to a hospital! And fast, or you'll die!"  
  
"I don't care. I'm staying here. I'm going to find Dib."  
  
"But he's dead!"  
  
"And it's your fault! Zim, I don't care where I am, or what happens to me, just so long as I'm not around a murderer."  
  
"I just wanted you to be safe."  
  
"That's probably what he wanted, too."  
  
"Invader Mel, wait -"  
  
"How dare you call me that? You killed a child, Zim! You know very well he's not equally matched for you!"  
  
"He is really quite an opponent, Mel..."  
  
"Don't start with that! Out! Now! Out of the Voot! I'm going to let you starve out here, die of the heat, whatever comes to be your fate!" She kicked him out, and then flew around the sky. "Computer! Give me the location of all living beings within the area." Her eyes scanned the screen. "That one must be Zim, there's some little lizards, and there! That one must be Dib!"  
  
Mel zoomed in on the image, but found that it was nothing more than a vulture-like creature. After a couple more minutes of searching, she found one more target, and decided to look into that one. Swooping down from the stratosphere, she saw who it was. The top opened to the Cruiser, and she stepped out. "Computer, give me a canteen of water."  
  
"Water?" the computer questioned.  
  
"Yes! H²O! Quickly!" A canteen appeared, and she grabbed it. She then offered it to Dib, who took it gratefully with a quivering hand. Unscrewing the cap, he let the cool liquid fall freely down his throat. When his eyesight recovered, he saw who was there.  
  
"Invader Mel? What are you doing here?"  
  
"I woke up, and Zim told me he killed you. I'm glad he's wrong. Oh how glad I am. I've learned a great deal about humans through you. I almost wish I were human. I'm so very grateful for having known you."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You've taught me that there is some good and bad in all of us. And I admire you humans. You may get a little too emotional at some times, but too much emotion is better than not enough."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I don't think anyone in this universe cares about me."  
  
"That's nonsense!"  
  
"No, it's not. Just name one person who cares about me."  
  
"Zim?"  
  
"No. Besides him."  
  
"Miyuki cared about you."  
  
"Not enough. You see, I don't think there is a single Irken out there who truly knows what it means to care. To cry for loss. Someone who knows what it means to love. No one I've ever met cared about me in that way."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Look at me. I'm hopeless. Nothing ever makes any sense anymore. I'm so confused."  
  
"Maybe things will make more sense on Irk. We'd better hurry."  
  
"Dib, you're not going to Irk. I won't let you die. Miyuki died, and now you. You can't die. I couldn't care less if Zim died, now. I never knew he would have the heart to murder a child."  
  
"He thought I had made an attempt on your life. Don't you think you should give this some more thought? I'd like for him to rot out here, but he's your friend, and I don't want you to suffer more than you have already."  
  
"I don't care his intentions. I just know that he was about to murder a human child. You. And you're my friend, and since you two are enemies, he's liable to do it again." A long silence held the impact of what she had said. "But I need to make sure that Second Tallest Red and Purple don't become the rulers. Or the timeline may be forever ruined. I need you to...no! I can't have you come with me. The shipment of potato chips might come in by then! They're due for next week, but...I can't risk anything. Not when it's your life. Oh, life is such a delicate thing...one minute it's prominent, the next it's scarce. I can't let this happen again. This is my last chance. If I don't succeed in this, I'll lose everything...including my life."  
  
"What do we do?"  
  
"I wish I knew. Come on, we have to go get Zim." Mel directed the Voot to the spot where Zim had been, then scanned the surrounding area. "He's not here. Not anywhere on the planet. Not even his remains." 


	5. Irk, Earth, and a Hidden Realm

Chapter Five: Irk, Earth, and a Hidden Realm  
  
Mel brought the Cruiser back towards Earth. Dib was a little disappointed in not going to Irk, but was still recovering from his injuries, so a rest was nice. "For the last time, it's far too dangerous. I won't allow it."  
  
"Wait - I wanted to ask - what is Mission Hidden Realm?"  
  
"That was an attempt to overthrow the Irken Empire. It failed, of course, but is now being recovered by a numerous amount of representatives from planets under Irken rule. It's highly clandestine, so please, don't tell anyone. Not even people who won't believe you about any of this. The only reason I'm telling you is because you probably won't be under investigation."  
  
"I won't. But why do you have to go back?"  
  
"I may dislike being Irken and everything we stand for, but I still have to think of the planet's good. I don't want to see millions of my kind get slaughtered, whether they deserve it or not. I still don't understand why."  
  
"I think I do."  
  
"Thank you, so much. But I must continue with my life, and you must continue with yours. We may never see each other again, but it's worth it." They landed on his roof, and just as Dib was about to leave, she halted him. "I want you to remember this. I want you to remember this encounter between two species for the rest of your life. Two species not in confrontation, but in understanding. Our own definition of a close encounter. A lesson in coping with one another, and living and learning. A way to engrave it in our memory for all eternity."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Silly human. We're etching a clear picture in our heads just by the sheer awe of the event. It doesn't take a photograph, or a picture, or a journal to remember all of this. We'll take this memory right up with us until the day we die. That's how amazing this is. Not one thing in this universe can make us forget. And our conscious minds are so primitive, that it must be something truly powerful."  
  
"Goodbye."  
  
"No. Not goodbye. This is just the beginning." She got back into Zim's Voot, which she had taken, and took off for Irk. Dib spent a moment looking where she had been, until it got too cold and he had to go back inside.  
  
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On Irk  
  
Mel's Cruiser had just landed outside of the BOB, (Building of Official Business) where Second Tallest Red and Purple were about to become officially the Tallest of Irk. She dashed inside, and ran down empty silent hall after empty silent hall. Her boots clacked against the linoleum floor as she comprehended the audacious thing she was about to do. Carefully, she opened the door just a crack, and heard parts of the speech they were reading to initiate the two Tallest of Irk into power. The young invader girl could not allow for this to happen. If she didn't do something, they'd become rulers and their planet would die. It had happened before. It would happen again.  
  
"Intruder!" A high-pitched Irken voice squealed. Mel turned around. For that Irken, his life was about to take a drastic change once again. "Mel? What are you doing here?!" Zim. He was in a security guard's outfit, looking much the same as his normal attire.  
  
"I came to stop them from becoming the Tallest."  
  
"Why would you do that?!"  
  
"Zim, if we don't do something, the Irken Empire will die away! Forever!"  
  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
"I didn't want to, but I'm going to have to kill them."  
  
"No! You can't! Intruder! Securi -" Zim grunted as she pushed him to the ground and held his lips tight.  
  
"Sorry about this, Zim, but if I'm going to save the planet, you're going to cooperate, even if forcibly." Mel took a small, rectangular device, and pointed it at him. "Zim, this is advanced technology you don't understand. You will understand this, though - it can kill. If you don't comply, I'll kill you. I don't want to, but one life isn't worth as much as billions. Now, one question - is Dib here also?"  
  
"I wouldn't know."  
  
"I know you know. Tell me, or we might all die."  
  
"He's here. Inside."  
  
"Oh, no. Zim, you'd better keep up with me, or else this whole place is going to blow sky high!" She dragged Zim along by the hand as she charged into the main room. Brushing past swarms of people, she reached the stairway leading up to the higher levels. In haste, she ran up them, and got to the row Dib was at.  
  
"How'd you find him so quickly?" Zim asked, for there were thousands of rows and hundreds of levels.  
  
"A bit of a presentiment." She took Dib's hand as well, and dragged the two to the central area. A guard stopped them, but she shone a laser in his face, and he passed out. The crowd was in an uproar caused by the disturbance. At long last she got to the platform where the soon-to-be Tallest were standing. She drew out a laser gun and shot at the innermost point in the ceiling. The entire ceiling and walls got covered with a luminescent plaster. "Zim...Dib...three people cannot live through this. Two will be the Tallest, but I'm afraid I'll have to go with them."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm going to have to die. But first, let me say that I love you two. You're the best friends anyone could ever have."  
  
"Wait!" A voice called from the crowd.  
  
"Huh? Who on Irk is that?"  
  
"Me! Zal!" Zal ran to the main platform where Mel was, and took her hand. "I'll do it. You have friends. A life. Not I."  
  
"Zal, you've got it all wrong, I -"  
  
"Invader Mel, it would be an honor to die for my planet. I'd jump at the opportunity. I don't have people around me that need me like you do."  
  
"Zal, you're just a small girl..."  
  
"So are you."  
  
"No, let me..."  
  
"Goodbye to all!" Zal leapt up and took the hands of Second Tallest Red and Purple, and the three disappeared. The lasers died down, and the walls returned to normal. Mel hugged Zim and cried.  
  
"We're alive...we're alive, but Zal is not." Her embrace lessened, and the two began to coax her. The audience was speechless, as they watched the spectacle of true compassion. True caring. True life. 


	6. The First Light of Day, the Shadow of Ni...

Epilogue - The First Light of Day, the Shadow of Night  
  
It had been ten years. Zim was a security official under the present Tallest Mei, Dib was a paranormal investigator, and Mel was a friend to them. Often she'd go on assignment with them, whether investigating a haunted house, or cracking down on an intergalactic conspiracy. Only now did any of them truly understand what the capabilities were of Mission Hidden Realm. They discovered that it only sent whoever you put into the void to an alternate reality where they'd get what they wanted out of life. Except for Zal. She had already achieved her ultimate goal - to save and help restore her planet.  
  
One particular day would be especially memorable. It was in front of Dib's new house he'd moved to, where the three were sitting around, without doing much of anything in particular. Zim was attempting to use telekinetic power to lift a garden hose, Dib was fooling around with some theory, trying to get things to work right, and Mel was busy on a laptop writing up something known only to her.  
  
"So...Zim, how's it going with that garden hose?" the Irken Invader (in disguise, of course) asked jokingly. He merely growled in annoyance. "What about you, Dib? What are you working on?"  
  
"Just a theory."  
  
"A theory? Lemme see!" She leaned over, a bit too much, and fell flat on her face as he pulled the notebook out of her way.  
  
"Not until it's worked out."  
  
"Gee, if you work it out, I guess it wouldn't be a theory anymore, now would it?"  
  
"Okay, you can see it." Mel looked it over, then gave a skeptical expression.  
  
"Ghosts are really robots in disguise from the Irken Empire...what the...?" Zim snickered a bit, then Dib grabbed the notebook back.  
  
"It's just a theory!"  
  
"To be a theory, or to be the workings of a lunatic? That is the question. Really, Dib, next thing you'll be saying that Bigfoot and Loch Ness are related!" Zim snickered some more, but paused when they saw him cover up a part of writing. The two Irken's mouths dropped wide open, and they began to guffaw loudly.  
  
"Well, it's possible!"  
  
"Don't worry, we're just having some fun at you. Just a little study to see how humans react to embarrassment, isn't that right, Zim? Apparently they turn a pinkish red on the face."  
  
"How very odd."  
  
"But, I was saving the good news for last. Dib, Zim, do you know Tallest Mei? The first girl to be Tallest of Irk and also Miyuki's sister? Well, it seems she's inviting us over."  
  
"That's good."  
  
"...And she seems especially interested in you two."  
  
"What are you getting at, Invader Mel?" Zim asked, with Dib right behind him.  
  
"Well, she's considering one of you to be her possible husband."  
  
"Are my boots shiny enough?"  
  
"Is my trench coat on straight?"  
  
"Do I look sweet enough?"  
  
"Do I look professional enough?"  
  
"Are you two nuts?" Mel asked. She laughed, and they did as well. They began to debate over who Mei would like best, which looked kind of funny, considering Dib was now about twice Zim's height. Mel had also grown, and was about a foot or two shorter than him. It turned out that she ended up marrying some other guy, and their little debate died open-ended.  
  
"I have to leave," Zim announced about a week later. Their little trio of friendship, as it had become since he'd cancelled invading Earth by order of Tallest Mei, was about to break. "There's nothing for me here on Earth. I'm going back to Irk to serve on official business there."  
  
"Goodbye, Zim. I hope I see you sometime."  
  
"Goodbye, Invader Mel, Dib-monkey." For some reason, even after they weren't enemies anymore, that name stuck.  
  
"I'm going to a convention about the paranormal this week."  
  
"Have a good time, Dib."  
  
"Something seems wrong."  
  
"It's nothing, really...it's just that I'm going to be alone this week. When do you leave?"  
  
"Monday."  
  
"That's in two days. Can I come with you?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Thank you. You sure have grown a lot. Ten years. I hadn't even dreamed of living this long."  
  
"You have, though."  
  
"I remember the first day we met - you were a pretty goofy kid."  
  
"What about Zim? How'd you meet him?"  
  
"That's a whole different story." They laughed, and for once they felt they led normal lives, with the only shadows hiding the good fortunes and hopes of day were those they were destined to battle. As for Zim, his life was pretty much the selfsame routine it had been. It was nearing the time in their lives when they would look instead back on the past and its fond memories rather than accomplishing those very tasks themselves, day by day, as the sun of their lives began to set on the horizon. But truly, the impact they'd made on the universe would be as everlasting as the revolutions made by the Earth, and many billons more planets alike, creating all days, nights, time, and eternity. 


End file.
